Former State Minister, Sheikh Mohamed Didi has said that bankrupting Villa Group will be the biggest damage done to Maldivian economy.
Sheikh Mohamed Didi said that Villa Group is the company benefiting the people most and is connected to the lives of many of the people of Maldives.
He said that the government’s determination to bankrupt such a company shows their disregard to the feelings of the citizenry.
“There is no way that this cannot be regarded as the biggest damage done to Maldives economy,” he said.
Villa group is one of the largest private companies in the Maldives. Gasim Ibrahim founded the company in 1986 to manage the trading and shipping interests. In 1988, Villa poured its profits from its trading operations into the resort industry. The company operates five resorts with 2008 beds and carries out trading operations supported by a shipping fleet of 8 cargo ships and tankers.
Today Villa is the single largest owner and operator of resorts in the Maldives , with 5 island resorts, 1,002 rooms (including 6 presidential suits) and 2,008 beds. To aid its resort operations, VILLA has established marketing and sales offices in Frankfurt, Tokyo , Zurich , London , and Hong Kong . The average combined bed capacity utilization of Villa Hotels' Resorts in the last five years has been at 81.1%, which is much higher than Maldives ' industry average of 72%.